November 16th 2011 Germany Match
Match Setting The second leg, after that 1-1 tie in Sarajevo, brings both teams looking for a place in the UEFA European Football Championship. Bosnia has less injury trobule now, with Pjanic and Zec recovered and ready to start. Here are their respective positions in the Group Phase. UEFA Euro Cup 'Group D' UEFA Euro Cup 'Group A' Squad The squad was announced on November 6rd and consisted of 23 players, all of them, play outside Bosnia. It consisted on 3 GK, 8 Defensemen (4 Fullbacks and 4 Center Backs), 9 Midfielders (2 Defensive Midfielders, 4 Central Midfielders and 3 Attacking Midfielders), and 3 Strikers. Hoffenheim was the most represented team, with 2 players, and the German Bundesliga, was the most represented league with 5 players. The following players were set to gain their first intenational cap if they got into the pitch: Kenan Handzic and Danijel Majkic The squad list is after the break: 23-man Squad Missing Players Ognjen Vranjes missed the match with a complication on a elbow injury Vedad Ibisevic continued to be injured after the last callup, with a hamstring injury. Boris Pandza is out for the rest of the 2011 season, with knee tendonitis. If he recovers well, he can be available for February. Senad Lulic was out, because of a technical decision, the team won't use players in his position. Dragan Blatnjak was out, because of a technical decision, the team won't use players in his position. Tactics After playing around injuries last week, Mikulic's team for this match was his usual 4-3-1-2 formation, featuring Miralem Pjanic for the first time. He intends to use him as an all-round midfielder, who gets to the opposition area often, and runs back to press at the middle when we don't have the ball. Mensur Mujdza injured himself before the match, so he was replaced by Dzemal Berberovic The detail of the positions and roles is in the table that follows. Result and Analysis Germany won the match 4-2 Analysis In a close fought match (much more closed than the scoreline shows), Bosnia and Herzegovina made the German players work their socks off in order to qualify for the UEFA European Football Championship. The game started with the Bosnians pressing the ball often and up, which left some spaces behind them. That was taken into consideration and a great long ball from Schweinsteiger left Miroslav Klose clear of marking and he scored the first goal 20 minutes in. The end of the first half and the beggining of the second saw the Bosnians best moments, where they held the ball and created numerous scoring ocasions, making Manuel Neuer, one of the best players in the game. But a solo run from Phillip Lahm had him score the 2-0 in the 68th minute. Bosnia and Herzegovina thrusted themselves forward, to get a goal, which left holes in their back, Stefan Kießling at 72' and once again Klose at 78, put the game 4-0 and buried Bosnia's chances. But they are a combative team, and pulled back 2 times, with Senijad Ibricic at 79' and Edin Dzeko at 82. With a aggregate result of 5-3, Germany qualifies to the UEFA Euro Cup. Important Stats Possession % = 44-56 Passes Completed % = 80-80 Shots = 21-16 Clear Cut Chances = 3-2 Long Shots = 8-2 Individual Performances Miroslav Klose was the man of the match and scoring 2 goals, and always was a headache for the Bosnian defense. Sejad Salihovic and Edin Dzeko were the best players for Bosnia.